Writing down the proper method to learn a technique was a lot harder than John had thought it would be. Sure, he could put words to paper… but how would they be interpreted by another? Describing patterns to circulate energy through the meridians was at least more formulaic, but there was also another problem. The technique didn’t even really exist yet.

He stared at the meridian diagram. That was the part he was most certain about, but even then he might find changes that needed to be made. He’d thought that writing it out might help him develop it, but he wasn’t sure that was the case. It just showed he wasn’t a master of anything yet. Anything that worked for him he just did without the ability to explain it in detail.

Then again, it was a very specialized technique. He was trying to formalize his ability to absorb spiritual energy from others. It was certainly a darkness element technique, but it might also require the particular totem he had. The Seed of Darkness, now grown into a proper sapling, was also a significant part of the process. He had gone over the various totems available, as much as they were listed, along with observing the sea of spiritual totems himself. There were a few that had similar properties that might work, but he couldn’t exactly just swap out spiritual totems and test. They were a permanent choice. Well, considering what happened with Fortkran… a mostly permanent choice. He didn’t relish the thought of dropping his cultivation in the hopes that he could regain it and choose a different totem. Especially not when he was satisfied with what he had. It just made it harder to know if other people could practice his technique.

As for improving it, he could just use it. The problem he had was… he wasn’t sure if it was safe. Obviously combat techniques were never meant to be safe, but there was a difference between absorbing loose spiritual energy and something another cultivator was wielding. He didn’t care if it was safe for actual enemies, but if he was just sparring with someone he wanted to avoid long term ill effects. He had some ideas for it that would absolutely come with long term negative effects. Directly trying to access the energy in another cultivator’s dantian wouldn’t be easy in the slightest… it might not even be efficient enough to be worthwhile, but it would certainly be damaging if he could pull it off.

He was nearly certain that if he absorbed the energy of an attack- around a weapon or otherwise launched at him- there would be no harm in it. The closer it was to the cultivator, and the more a part of them it was, however, the blurrier the line became.

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Brage was absolutely a master of the sword. Even with nearly matching cultivations, John found himself unable to keep up with him as he became serious. However, the more they trained… the more John wondered if he would ever master the sword. His skills were certainly improving with time… but he wasn’t sure if the sword fit his style. Sometimes he felt like the heavy weapons favored by the earth cultivators around him would be the right choice, but he wasn’t going to just use the earth element. They lacked a certain subtlety that suited darkness.

Though they couldn’t just summon top-of-the-line masters with a snap of their fingers, the Tenebach clan could provide competent trainers for any sort of weapon imaginable. While it was said that there were advantages and disadvantages to every weapon, some weapons were just disadvantages. Some ‘weapons’ were used merely because they were what people had access to. Many of them such as the scythe originated as farming implements. There was almost never a use for a weapon that relied on pulling towards the user like those did. Of course, there were ‘scythes’ with the same shaped blades but positioned like on a proper polearm. Once enough adjustments were made, it was quite functional as a weapon- but it was no longer the original thing except in name.

John trained with everything anyway, bad facsimile of a weapon or not. He trained with swords- straight swords, rapiers, curved swords, and large two handed ones. Sometimes he would use a shield of varying sizes along with a sword or other weapon. Axes were good for using their weight to break through armor- and with the effects of spiritual energy, most cultivators could be considered to be wearing heavy armor regardless of what they wore. A portion of that effectiveness was the user’s own energy, but along with the weighty hammers axes were the best if a direct blow was actually struck.

Polearms were basically every other form of melee weapon on a long stick. They had the major advantage of reach- if your opponent couldn’t reach you before they were impaled, crushed, or chopped apart then you were the victor. Unfortunately, cultivators had the ability to react and move quickly, slipping inside their reach, which lessened them to just the level of being quite effective.

If there were one sort of weapon that was always better, someone would have figured it out before John. He did take to smaller weapons like daggers and claw weapons, likely because of his previous experience. They had less power, but it hardly mattered if he was able to strike a vulnerable point or gather his energy. Not much good for fighting anything larger than a human, though.

Flexible weapons like whips were quite popular for users of the darkness element. It was about tricking the opponent and controlling their actions. Disarming them of their weapons or making them lose their footing was all well and good… though a whip couldn’t kill someone. Not with the weapon itself, except perhaps by strangling. A proper application of energy could suffice, but better were chain weapons with blades. The sickle and chain was one such weapon, heavier than a whip and not capable of exactly the same maneuvers, but still useful for binding weapons or people- and sturdier. There were various versions of it with different names… though of course all of them were somewhat different than the names on Earth. Entirely different languages would do that. John was glad he hadn’t actually had to learn the local language.

Melee weapons weren’t the only options. If he was exploring the breadth of weapons, the technically best were those usable at range for the same reason polearms were good. If your opponent died before they even got to attack, you were safe. Light weapons like throwing daggers and darts were easy to conceal. John supposed he might as well keep some on his person, just in case. Larger throwing weapons like javelins were reasonable for a battlefield, but a bit cumbersome for a cultivator. He might carry a handful on his person in a quiver, but if he was going to do that… he might as well have a bow. Though the way each weapon used the power of its user was different.

Crossbows technically existed, John found out… but they had a major flaw that was normally their advantage. They didn’t use any of the muscle power of the wielder outside of loading, and even then they could just use mechanical advantage to make the process easier. Cultivators had bodies better that could go beyond the power of normal humans, so a crossbow had minimal reason to be used instead of any other method of launching a projectile. Even with better materials, there were some mechanical limitations by the size.

John made his decision of weapon by not deciding. He was still most trained with the sword, so until he found a weapon good enough to replace what he had, he found no point in doing so. He could easily carry a dagger and a handful of hidden weapons, and if he were riding in a carriage having a bow along wouldn’t be a bother. Training with a variety of weapons would benefit him in fighting against them in the future- and he had no doubts he would be doing much fighting with other humans- so he would continue to seek out different options.

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While staying home and training all the time was a reasonable activity for the young master of a clan, doing exclusively cultivation and weapons training was a good way to fall behind. John needed more practical experience, and since there were no appropriate events happening in the Stone Conglomerate… traveling was the option. He could potentially take care of something else at the same time. While for the next stage he would prefer to go somewhere the air element was prominent, it was very rare for such a place to be adjacent to areas aligned with earth, as opposed elements. A closer option was to go to the Green Sands. There were some untamed areas where he might train against beasts, and he might learn about opportunities as well. Likewise, many sects were willing to have their students spar with traveling cultivators- both sides could learn from different styles- so even if he didn’t face any real dangers he could learn more than just remaining stationary at home. That said, while danger could certainly lead to growth… he was absolutely going to be bringing his uncle Aydan along. Other young masters would have a guardian, and he would as well. It would be foolish to not use the advantages he had. And as long as he wasn’t a terrible person about it, it would be at least a net neutral for the world, and a positive for himself.